Reenforced comb foundation for beehives



E. R. ROOT REENFORCED COMB FOUNDATION FOR BEEHIVES' Oct. 21, 1924.

Filed June 29. 1920 Patented Oct. 21, 1924.

UNITED STAT Es ERNEST R. noo'r, or MEDINA, OHIO, Assisiion .TO TI-IVE Afrjaoo'r COMPANY, or

1,512,861 PATENT oFFicE.

MEDINA, 0111b, A CORPORATION.

REENFORGED COMB FOUNDATION FOR BEEHIVES. I

Appllication filed. June 29, 1920. Serial No.'392,710.

known as comb foundation that consists of a sheet of wax which, by the use of dies, or an em bossing operation, 1S formed, on opposlte sides with the beginnings, in greater or less degree, of the brood or honey-receiving cells.

As the sheet of wax isof considerable area, and quite thin, sagging of the sheet, which stands vertical in the hive, 1s aptto occur,

with the result that cells are distorted and are not utilized by the bees. By proper reinforcement of this wax sheet this condition can be prevented, and as all the cells can be utilized by the queen in laying eggs, the capacity of the hive is increased as much as twenty per cent, and thereby swarming con trolled, and, if the queen fails to deposit eggs in all the brood comb, the bees will store honey therein. and thus the honey storage capacity of the hive is augmented.

Again, reenforced foundation, stands the strain of the centrifugal extractor better than unreenforced, and that means more complete removal of the honeybecause the extractor can be run at a higher speed.

My invention has for its object the rein- :lorcement of comb foundation in such a manner as to secure to a maximum, the benefits of reinforcement, and tosecure other advantages, all as hereinafter set forth.

In the annexed drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a sheet ax foundation reenforced by wiring in accordance with my invention, a portion of the sheet being broken away to show the wires, in part, in full lines, the remainder being in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a detail view, in vertical section, through the top bar of a brood frame in which the wired sheet is secured by nails; and

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic View illustrating a simple method of bending the wire preliminary to its embedment in the wax sheet.

In the drawings 10 designates the sheet of wax, of usual oblong form, and 11 the reinforcement, which consists of wire or other proper filament, of a gage or thickness less than thethickness of the wax sheet, so that it may be wholly embedded in the latter. back and forth, and preferably, as shown ingFig. 1, it extends in oblique lines from top to the bottom of the sheet, forming a succession of Vs, alternate ones being inverted, that is to say, the direction of ob liquityis downward and laterally. By reason of this obliquity, the wires prevent downward slip of the wax over them, as

may occur when the wires run vertical, and

the limbs ofthe Vs being in comparatively short stretches from top to bottom of the frame (to which theyare attached as hereafter explained) they are stiffer or more rigid than isthe case with wires thatlrun horizontally from i side to side of the frame, and which, byreason of the long stretch from point of support. on one side bar to another, and the greater total'load of wax thereon are apt to sag or flex downward.

At the angles or corners of the bends, the wire is rounded, and continuous, so that no burrs or points exist, apt to catch or tear the wax, or to catch into objects and cause the wire to tear out of the wax; and these rounded corners form loops 12 for the passage of, and to engage, nails 13 driven through them into the top and bottom bars of the frame.

The connection of the wax supporting J11 result, and in this connection the positive connection which I secure by loops 12 which engage the nails in'the top bar is of especial importance.

I show in Fig. 3 a simple method of mak ing the v shaped bends. The wire let con1- ing from the reel in a straight line is passed between two rows of slender, uniformly spaced fingers 15, so positioned that alternate ones are on opposite sides of the wire. By simultaneously moving all the fingers on one side of the wire, to force it against the opposite set of fingers, and carry it beyond them a distance corresponding to the width of the sheet of wax from top to bottom, the wire will be bent into the zigzag form The wire is zigzagged or looped sheet =of -Wa3x is" idropped on the ben't: or

looped Wire, and the latter momentarily heated, as by n1eans ofan electric current,

the wax willmeltyandthe sheet will' settlef over and envelop the Wires, later being em bossed to provide the rudimentary cel-ls.-=

I claim 1. A. comb foundationfisheet.ofavax re'e'n forced by an embedded filament that passes back zmd 'forthWithinathe sheet adapted'tm receive 1 fastaringrrdevicesg at the angles "01" bends; saddengles or bends beingcat or near" the "margins of the sheet; 2 and the *filznnent exten'dingtinfa straight line from one' 'bend to an 1 opposite bend; f1

2. j A comb foundation sheet otwax having a, "filziment that is= embedded -therein; and extends fromwthe upper: par-t of the she'e't downward in stmi-ght diirergingsi lines throughout thel entire extent thereof inth'e sheet, and-adapted to l be-=* fa2stened at'- :the I topto horizontal supporting member? 3. A comb-foundation sheet' of wex h'sw ingza filament that-is"embedded therein; andextends: ifrom the upper part of '=thsheet downward in straight diverging; 1i'nes;- throughout-the entire extent thereof in the sheet; and an frame from thetopi bar ob which said" filament "is suspended.

4%; A comb foundation shew/tof wex hsw ing; a filament that"=passes ba'ek and"' f01 '-t Within thesheet in -tl1e-'-fdrm of a series of i Vs,=a lte1=na-te-Vs beingginverted; the apexes of- *th' Vs' being respecti-vely=at or 'near the toptand-bottom of the sheet and the filament extending directly in-straight-lines from 2m upper apezbto a lower alpex.

5. Aeomb' foundation sheet of Wax 112W- ing;avfilament thatpesses back and forth Within the sheet in theform of a series of Vs, the angless o f the Vs providing naileng aging bends and the sides of the Vs extending directly in -straightlines-from top to bett6moft1ie heeti r 6. A comb fdrindatioirr shet of Wax=reen fdreed by agfilament that paeses bztek and fo' r th Within 'the slree-t and adzilptedto 'I'- "fa' sten' devices -at* the an les or ie 't 'top land; b'oifiioin p attached by"'=nai1s" at such ang the firamem extending in= str 'ai glft lines amid "at aninelin di rectly "between u'ch 'b-ai r 7: ing withinvs; the angles'o-fthe v engaging sb'e-ndsgsaind u fia me to the "top an'd bottom b" 5*05iwhicliitlii isheet is attached by nails atsucli angle the-filamentezgtend in g st're i ght lines a-nd at al'rincline di rec'tlybtween suh' -barsfi r I Iii-testiinony tvllt'f-I afii'i my signature;-

ERNEST R ll 9 ati'on-Esheetibf wax haw- 

